Kingdom of Characene

Origins

Hyspaosines, a Seleucid governor of the head of the Gulf, refounded the flooded city of Alexandria on the Tigris as Charax Spasinou and declared independence around 141 BCE as Seleucid power collapsed. He briefly held Babylon in 127 BCE before becoming a vassal of the Parthian Empire.

Rule and society

Characene, also called Mesene, prospered from long-distance trade: ships from India and the Gulf unloaded at Charax, and Palmyrene merchants organised caravans from there to the Mediterranean, as inscriptions at Palmyra show. Kings minted silver tetradrachms with Greek legends. Its population included Babylonians, Arabs, Greeks and Iranians, and the geographer Isidore of Charax came from the city. The Roman emperor Trajan visited King Attambelos VII in 116 CE.

Decline and legacy

Ardashir I conquered Characene around 222 CE, and it became the Sasanian province of Meshan. Charax declined as rivers shifted, its role later taken by Basra.